There
has been some grumbling the last 24 hours or so among LSU fans because the
Tigers received the No. 4 national seed instead of one of the three above them.
Not sure what the big deal is.

My
first reaction: So what?

All
those numbers really mean in front of the national seeds is that those eight
teams have destiny in their hands. Keep winning this weekend and those eight
teams get to stay home for Super Regional play. And it doesn't take a rocket
scientist or even a University of Kansas graduate to figure out that playing at
home is a major advantage in postseason baseball.

The
griping seems to focus mostly on where Vanderbilt and Oregon State wound up. At
least it doesn't seem like there's much issue with North Carolina nabbing the
top spot after winning both the regular-season and postseason ACC
championships.

LSU senior Mason Katz celebrated the SEC Tournament championship with the crowd on Sunday. He'd like to be part of a few more dog piles before he finishes.Vasha Hunt | AL.com

The
primary argument among fans seems to be that Tigers, because they won the SEC
Tournament, should have leap-frogged to at least the No. 2 spot.

I
can't get on board with that because one game shouldn't make or break a team's seeding or postseason status. (The obvious exception, of
course, is a game when two teams that wouldn't be tournament-bound are playing
for a tournament crown - say for instance if Missouri and Auburn would have
somehow navigated through the minefield in Hoover and met on Sunday.)

Vanderbilt
earned the No. 2 national seed because it dominated the SEC, the best league in
the country. Yes, the Commodores drew the good fortune of having Georgia,
Tennessee and Auburn on the schedule. But Vandy also handled its business
against everybody else on the schedule just a little better than LSU did -
including a 9-0 record against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina. The
margin was minimal, and the Tigers' conference slate was decidedly tougher.

The
bottom line, though, was three more SEC wins for Vandy than LSU rolled up. Another
notable difference is that the Commodores went on the road and claimed two wins
at Oregon and another at Louisville. The Tigers' best non-conference win was at
ULL.

Like
Vandy, the Beavers won a very good conference race by two games with a 24-6
record. Along the way, OSU won 14 games against ranked opponents. Out of
conference, the Beavers went to San Diego State and San Diego, two NCAA Tournament
teams.

If
you didn't notice, there's a common theme there: Non-conference road games. It's
not even winning those games as much as it is simply playing them, particularly
on the road. It helps RPI numbers just to show the gumption to test yourself
away from home.

That's
something LSU doesn't do, in part because of how rugged the SEC schedule is
every season. And completely to the Tigers' credit the last two years, they
don't lose a whole lot of non-conference games - only one this season.

But
that going-on-the-road wrinkle is one of the differences that come into play
with the RPI, and clearly the RPI was a major determining factor.

All
that said, there really isn't much to complain or worry about. Being the No. 4
team in the RPI and the overall No. 4 national seed is plenty to be proud of.
Nowhere in any of the information being doled out was there anybody saying
"this means LSU is the fourth best team in the country." When you see the
coaches around the country peg the Tigers as No. 1, that's a pretty good barometer.

LSU
has turned in a magnificent, magical and record-setting season. That won't be
determined or quantified by an RPI number or what national seed the Tigers were
assigned.

It's players like reserve outfielder Chris Sciambra coming through with his clutch pinch-hit, game-winning, 11th-inning single in the SEC Tournament championship game who have helped make the 2013 LSU season so special.Mark Almond | AL.com

That's
the beauty of college baseball, just like basketball. Things will be decided
completely on the diamond (or court) and all those numbers fall by the wayside
once the players get involved.

By
the time LSU gets to Omaha, if the Tigers take care of business this week and
next to get there, who they play is much less important than the fact that
they're there. At that point, there are no easy draws.

So
being the No. 4 seed or the No. 1 seed doesn't matter. And it's not like that
seeding number will influence how Paul Mainieri and Alan Dunn would line up
their pitching plans. You can bet your house and your neighbor's as well that
if LSU gets to Omaha, Aaron Nola will get the ball first no matter whom the
Tigers step onto the TD Ameritrade Park diamond against.

So
exhale, Tiger fans. As a reader posted in the comment section of another story,
"No matter where you put it, cream rises to the
top."

If this LSU team is as good as it has shown all season long,
a seeding number - high, low or in-between - won't make a whole heck of a lot
of difference.

All that matters now is the number 5. As in 5 wins standing
between the Tigers and punching a ticket back to the College World Series.